1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bicycle control apparatus that controls an electrically assisted bicycle. More specifically, the present invention relates to a bicycle control apparatus that controls a bicycle having a crank, an electric motor for riding assistance and a transmission.
2. Background Information
Recently, electrically assisted bicycles that assist riding by supplementing a person's pedaling force with a motor drive force are becoming popular. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-268854 discloses a prescribed control for accomplishing a smooth gear shifting operation of the transmission in an electrically assisted bicycle having a transmission. When a user performs an operation resulting in the issuance of a shift command, this control temporarily stops the supply of assistance power from the drive assistance motor and resumes the supply of the assistance power after a short prescribed amount of time has elapsed. With this control, the transmission can change gears more easily because the gear shifting operation is executed while the supply of the assisting power is stopped.